Just when we thought that all hospital food service departments were a nutritional mess, this amazing story came to my inbox!
Do you remember Becky, the nurse who stood up to the hospital she worked for to refuse the flu vaccine, and she won? (Health Care Workers: How to Refuse Mandatory Vaccines and Not Get Fired.) Well since then she quit her job to go back to school in Chicago to become a Naturopath. In the meantime she was interviewing for a nursing job there to pay the bills and sent me this email:
Hi Kelly!
This is the hospital I'm interviewing with on Thursday. I did my clinicals here back in the day, so I was somewhat excited about it because of the familiarity and the affiliation they have with the church denomination I am a part of…but now I am even more excited. Check this out!! I don't know if they serve real, grass-fed butter, but boy howdy, this is an amazing start!
See? I'm proud of them already without being an employee! And if they choose to hire me, I'll find a way to get Naturopaths and Chiropractors on staff. ;o)
Here's an excerpt from that link:
Eating Green
Each day, an increasing number of us are turning down preservatives and processed foods for the health benefits of organically grown fruits and vegetables. But few understand the impact that eating green can have on our bodies and our health. According to Dr. Sylvia Panitch, board-certified internist at Swedish Covenant Hospital, “when examining the food of people who eat organic foods, you see a higher amount of vitamins, amino acids, essential minerals and antioxidants.”
That's why we've made a commitment to using organic foods and produce at Swedish Covenant Hospital, which we began doing over 2 years ago thanks to support and encouragement from Chef Michael Altenberg and our Patient Food Services department. We are now one of only 2 hospitals in Chicago, and among few nationwide, who are implementing organic foods programs like ours.
Learn more about organic foods, how they can benefit you and how you can become an organics consumer in no time.
Shocking isn't it? But wonderful! Especially compared to these pathetic stories:
- It’s Scary What They Call “Nourishment” in the Hospital
- Hospital “Smart Recipe Substitutions” (You Won’t Believe This)
- Corn Pops for Diabetics? Not So Healthy Hospital Food
Thanks for sharing this with us, Becky! (As an update, unfortunately she didn't get the job at this hospital that she wanted, if you know of any job openings around Chicago, near Lombard specifically, email me and I'll forward to Becky!)
If you have any *good* news about hospital food, we'd love to hear about it in the comments!
Our cafeteria and food service still offer junk and low-fat options, but they have had some local farm-fresh fare lately. The salad bar is as good as most restaraunts. And, the hospital offers an on-site CSA pick-up for employees which is great. Still room for improvement but lots of positives too.
My dh just spent 3 1/2 weeks in the hospital. I tried to reason with the dietician with no luck. I sneaked him in some grass-fed beef and fresh raw veggies. Got the doc to write an order (!!) that Kombucha was ok! But most of the hospital food was processed, fake and tasteless. The topper to all this was that the two week ADA diet they gave me (yes, he’s diabetic but needs lots of protein to heal a deep wound) at discharge is garbage, pure and simple. A suggested snack is 12 animal crackers! Seriously!! Yet they say something like baked sweet potato should be kept at “lemon-sized” portions. It seems awfully low on protein to me as well. Also full of “low-fat/fat free” stuff. I forget where I recently read it but someone said that “low fat/fat free” were code words for “chemical sh*tstorm” and I agree! If someone followed this diet they would be nutritionally crippled. I want him healing and healthy. Needless to say we’re back on WP. I showed the diet recommendation to the home health nurse and to her credit, she said it was trash. She said she would never recommend that to her patients. So despite the fact that we raise some awfully good grass-fed meats and foods here in Kansas, it has not made its way to the hospitals. Honestly, I cried when I saw what he had to endure.
I work at a smaller hospital in WI and we get produce and eggs from a local farmer and we started a community garden and grow some of our own produce there. The hospital was built in approximatly 2000 with a fung shui in mind for the form and colors of the buliding and the outside. We have many gardens and a bird feeder outside of each patient window. We actually get complaints that people can’t get white (wonder)bread, since we only serve a slightly healthier whole grain wheat and a rye.
That is AMAZING, I love to hear that!!! I wish hospitals around us would take that lead…
Kelly
I have to admit that our hospital in Gunnison, Colorado serves GREAT food. Some people who are not staying there will go there for lunch! I am not sure exactly what they serve but I do know that it is wholesome whole made food. It is a very small hospital. When I had my first daughter 7 years ago we were the only patients in the hospital. The first night the chef came and asked if prime rib would be acceptable!
Wow, I love that!
I was in the University Community hospital in Tampa Fl last September and was pleased to see that they offered a menu to their patients that included fresh veggies and fruits. You could order a main course salad for a meal. Comparing that with what my husband was offered at the 2 other places that he ended up, I thought it was awesome. I am sure that it was not organic but just fresh and raw was a big step up. Sadly, the hospital was then taken over by the group that owns one of those that my husband was in, so I am not so sure that is being offered anymore. That was the WORST of the 2 that he was in. My husband never ate a bit of what was brought to him…. I brought all of his food to him daily. The fumes of the tepid, rancid smelling, processed food made us both nauseous.
Oh for more hospitals to see that their food is causing as much havoc as the diseases that brought the people to the hospital in the first place.